Breadcrumbs

At every meeting, HR Avant-Garde reminds its members that mere acquisition of knowledge is not what enables us to professionally excel. Professional excellence happens when that knowledge is applied to profoundly change how we approach our profession.

Our two previous posts and 18 minute webinars provided financial literacy for the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. We now present how to use this knowledge to improve the quality of your professional life.

We introduce a new approach to apply financial knowledge to business strategy by presenting the Strategic Cube Methodology.

This quick time-to-market approach has served several professional pursuits:

Reaching for Job Interview: Many candidates scour the internet to repeat back to the interviewer what they already know about their own company. Instead, imagine the power of a candidate concluding her interview after articulating something strategically applicable about the company.

Just as a medical doctor requires checkups prior to handing out Rx slips, the conscientious HR practitioner will gauge the strength of the company – measured as financial health by investors and executives alike – through a financial check prior to recommending the best course of human capital intervention.

In the next 18 minutes, take another important step toward financial literacy by understanding the balance sheet and cash flow statement while also learning to create additional financial ratios that will make you a conscientious HR practitioner.

Vincent Suppa works with startups and investors and teaches graduate courses at New York University. His email issuppa@suppa.org.

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You may be able to work in Italy without speaking Italian. Perhaps you can find a career in Thailand without speaking Thai. There are even people who hold jobs without speaking the language of business. But in each case, it’s much better if you do speak the language.

While we know what languages are spoken in France and China, what is the language of business? The language of business is finance — and few ever make it to the executive level without speaking it. It’s how businesses measure success versus failure. Even nonprofit organizations must have their revenues exceed their costs to continue their work.

For our HR professionals, let’s talk about HR malpractice. Imagine a doctor giving you a checkup before prescribing you medicine. Now imagine that same doctor giving you a prescription without taking the time to examine you. Well, HR people do the equivalent of that all the time.

The only way to gauge the health of a company is to review its finances. When HR professionals, however, don’t speak the language of finance, they are forced to prescribe solutions without ever examining the health of the company. Imagine a long-term HR solution for a company whose liquidity ratios or burn rates reveal what is really needed is immediate relief.

The HR professional who can read an income statement knows — long before being told by the CEO — that their product is becoming commoditized, and either a new recruitment strategy or L&D initiative can restore margins.

In 18 minutes, take the first step toward financial literacy by understanding the income statement and some of the most fundamental financial ratios that serve as leading indicators to making the business decisions that help companies thrive.

Vincent Suppa works with startups and investors and teaches graduate courses at New York University. His email issuppa@suppa.org.